Parents of Koroshi victim ask LDP: “Will you let WATANABE stand?

2013/08/20

Sunday, July 7, 2013

June 28 the parents of MORI Mina, who killed herself due to overwork at Watami, visited Liberal Democratic Party headquarters to ask party leaders why it was sending a person who intentionally killed their daughter to the parliament. WATANABE Miki, ex-president of the Watami fast-food restaurant chain, is going to stand for the upcoming upper house election from the LDP in the proportional representation constituency. Mori’s father, Takeshi, strongly criticized Mori at the press conference. “Watami’s motto is ‘Work 24 hours a day 365 days a year till your die’. So I can say the company deliberately killed my daughter. They employed her with the intention to kill her and made her work for low wages and said they were not accountable for her death. I should call him a hardened criminal.” When asked what he was going to ask the Party, Mori replied,” I just want to ask ‘Are you really going to run someone like him as a candidate?’.” (MATSUMOTO Chie)

Power harassment, sexual harassment, unpaid overtime, extended work hours, discrimination, casualization, short-term employment contract, etc…
Japan’s workers have been ground down by companies that repeat these practices and sometimes even drive workers to death. They are branded as “Black Corporations.”

Although they have contributed to deteriorating terms and conditions for workers, it has not been easy to investigate individual claims or resolve such corporate malpractices or even to inform the public of their wrongdoings. Workers who are often deprived of their rights have no voice left or no strength left to stand up for themselves. Even if some extreme cases are highlighted, they never lead to better work environment or labor affairs due also to insufficient analysis of social and economic structure that create such corporations.

To raise awareness of such issues and to help build secure work environment, we established a “Black Corporations” Award. The corporate raspberry award is presented on July 28 at a ceremony featuring workers who suffered in nominated corporations and labor experts who discuss circumstances of such a social phenomenon.